The Nigeria Nationwide League One (NLO) has called on the Federal Government to use the core values of sports to promote national unity, peace and progress.
Ebere Amaraizu, South-East Director of NLO, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday.
According to Amaraizu, sport is globally acknowledged as a potential tool for unity, socioeconomic and national development.
He called for organisation of inter village/community sports competitions to enhance grassroots engagement of the youth, thus fishing out young fresh talents.
“However, not much can be said to have been done to optimize the full potential of sports considering the abundance of human and material resources in our society.
“It is pertinent to point out that current challenges confronting our youths must be tackled through sports by understanding and reflecting on its core values,” said Amaraizu.
According to him, these core values are fair play, social justice, discipline, self-discovery, creation of employment opportunities, promotion of culture, means of enhancing education, an instrument for driving national ideology, and rebranding.
“Others include promotion of sports business for economic development, promotion of gender equality and women empowerment, promotion of sustainable fitness and good health, enhancement of nation’s international image and provision of entertainment,” he said.
Amaraizu, who is also the Manager of Crime Buster FC, Enugu, called on all tiers of government, community leaders, and philanthropists to give more attention to sports and its numerous benefits.
“Stakeholders must adopt best practices in the administration of sports in the country.
“Another area is statutory financial provisions to enhance sports development in schools and communities,” he said.
He also advised that professionally trained sports personnel should administer sports at all levels to ensure adherence to the core values of sports, statutes and to maximize the use of talents.
